FIG. 4 shows a conventional tee nut 1 comprises a stem portion 2 and a flange portion 3 extending outwardly from a first end of the stem portion 2, said portions being integrally made of metal. The stem portion 2 is in the form of a hollow cylindrical body, having a crimping portion 4 at a second end opposite to the first end, and the inner surface excluding said crimping portion 4 is formed with a female thread (not shown). The outer peripheral edge of the flange portion 3 is formed with four equispaced pawls 5 projecting toward the second end of the stem portion 2. The pawls 5 are formed by cutting part of the flange portion to provide tongue pieces and raising said tongue pieces in a predetermined direction.
Such tee nut is secured to an object to be fixed, such as wood, by inserting its stem portion 2 into a through-hole first formed in said object, and crimping the free end by spreading the crimping portion 4 at the surface opposite to the surface of the object on which the flange portion 3 is positioned. When the tee nut 1 has been fixed to the object, rotation of the tee nut 1 is prevented by the pawls 5 and a member such as a bolt may be threadedly engaged with the female thread formed on the inner peripheral surface of the stem portion 2.
For effecting said crimping efficiently, it is preferable to use a crimping machine and feed tee nuts successively and automatically to said crimping machine. However, in the case of the tee nut 1 shown in FIG. 4, since its pawls 5 are relatively long, they tend to be caught in the tee nut feed path. To make it possible to feed these tee nuts automatically in spite of their tendency to get jammed, a special arrangement will be required.
Further, the tee nut 1 shown in FIG. 4 should be crimped at the crimping portion 4 after the step of driving the pawls 5 into the object to be fixed is completed. Therefore, a relatively long period of operation time is expended for fixing the tee nut 1 in a piece of wood